In many applications, it is desirable to support or hang a first item such as an item of clothing from a wall panel or the like. For that purpose, a hook or the like is attached to the wall panel, and the item of clothing can be hung from the hook. An issue with conventional hooks is that they generally project outwardly from the second wall, meaning it is easy to snag clothing or other objects on the hooks. Depending on the positioning of the hook, it is possible for a passer-by to impact against the hook, causing injury. A further issue is that the hooks may only provide limited support, and they only support items correctly in one orientation of the hook. That makes conventional hooks of limited use for some purposes in undulating environments such as on boats, aircraft, or in automobiles.
WO 97/48575 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,908,269 describe hook arrangements. The hook arrangement of WO 97/48575 is designed so that the tip of the hook does not extend beyond a front face of a surrounding body. This hook is designed to hold thin items, such as the handles of plastic shopping bags to support the plastic bags from the hooks. U.S. Pat. No. 6,908,269 describes a first bezel having a pivoting support loop and a hook which is retractable into a second bezel and can engage with the loop. A cable connected to the hook can be used to support plastic shopping bags or the like.
While those devices are designed so that the hooks do not project to address the snagging issue, they only provide a limited amount of support in undulating environments. Those devices would only function correctly on certain orientations.
Further, those devices are only useful for supporting plastic shopping bags or similar items. It would be desirable to provide an assembly for supporting an item which provides interchangeability so that different items can be supported.
In this specification where reference has been made to patent specifications, other external documents, or other sources of information, this is generally for the purpose of providing a context for discussing the features of the invention. Unless specifically stated otherwise, reference to such external documents or such sources of information is not to be construed as an admission that such documents or such sources of information, in any jurisdiction, are prior art or form part of the common general knowledge in the art.
It is an object of at least preferred embodiments of the present invention to provide an improved or at least an alternative assembly, base unit, or support component for supporting an item.